


Family Drabbles

by CompulsiveBowlers



Series: Hamilcast Drabbles [5]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda (Broadway Cast) RPF
Genre: Children, Established Relationship, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2020-03-06 15:33:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18853927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CompulsiveBowlers/pseuds/CompulsiveBowlers
Summary: Series of short fics about Emmy and Daveed having kids together because I keep stumbling upon pictures of Daveed with small children and that really does something to my heart.





	1. Positive

Emmy stared at the timer on her phone. Thirty seconds until she would know if her life was changing. Thirty seconds until her childhood dream could be coming true. Thirty seconds. She felt the room getting smaller as her panic grew. She could faintly hear the alarm going off on her phone, but she couldn’t bring herself to move from her seat perched on the edge of the bathtub to stop the noise. After what felt like a lifetime, she felt her breathing begin to slow and she reached for her phone, silencing the alarm. She looked at the calendar again, somehow hoping that the date would have changed. Daveed still wouldn’t be home for three days. Emmy felt her breath catching again when she went to walk to the small white stick she had carefully placed on the counter. She sat back on the edge of the tub and pulled out her phone again. Before she could even process what was happening, she had dialed Rafael. He answered before the line could finish ringing once.

 

“Em, what's wrong?” he asked, “Why are you calling? You always text?”

 

She could hear him running around while talking, rushing to put on his shoes and get in the car to rush to wherever she needed him. Daveed had asked him to take care of Emmy while he was out of town filming, and Rafa had taken his job a little too seriously.

 

“I’m fine,” Emmy said, unconvincingly, “I, I just need someone else to be here when I do something, and you were the first person I thought to call, and…”

 

“I’m on my way,” he replied. 

 

Emmy could hear him starting his car and couldn’t help but laugh at how much he cared about her. If you had told her five years ago that she would be in a happy relationship, have a great friend group, and a booming career, she would have laughed in your face, but here she was and she couldn’t be happier.

 

Ten minutes later, Rafa let himself into the apartment. He looked around the main living area, and when he didn’t see Emmy, he called out for her.

 

“I’m in the bedroom! C’mon in!” she called back. 

 

Rafa made his way into Emmy and Daveed’s room and wrapped Emmy in a hug. He could feel how tense she was and knew there was something she wasn’t telling him.

“Alright Em, are you gonna tell me why you called and asked me to come over at 8 o’clock on a Saturday morning? I could be sleeping right now!”

 

“Sorry. But you were already awake! How else would you have answered so quickly?”

 

“Fine. You caught me. Mia had me up at six. But seriously, what’s up? The stress is practically radiating off of you.”

 

“I, uh, wanted someone with me when I looked at that,” Emmy said as she gestured to the small plastic stick on her nightstand, “I was too scared to do it alone.”

 

“Shit,” Rafa said. “You really haven’t looked yet?”

 

Emmy shook her head and sat down on the bed.

 

“Why’d you call me? Why not one of your girl friends?”

 

“Because I want you to help me figure out how to tell Daveed if I am,” she said, “Plus, you’re basically my best friend now.”

 

Rafael made an exaggerated motion of grabbing his heart, using comedy cope with his emotions, as per usual. 

“Alright,  _ Best Friend,  _ are you ready?” he asked, offering his hand for support as she picked up the test.

 

Emmy looked down at the small piece of plastic in her hands and started to cry. Rafael wrapped her up in a hug.

 

“I’m gonna be a mom!”


	2. Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of Part 1. Emmy tells Daveed that she's pregnant.

Three days later, Emmy was in the car on her way to pick up Daveed at the airport. She had spent the night before putting the finishing touches on her plan to surprise her boyfriend. She called Rafael to make sure that he had everything ready.

 

“Did you find the coffee shop?” she asked.

 

“Of course I did. We went there last week, remember? Plus I have a phone. I can use the GPS,” he replied.

 

“Right, right. And you remembered the mug?”

 

“Yes Emmy. I have the mug. And I talked to the owner. She knows the plan and thinks you’re adorable. We’re all set. Go get your man.”

 

Twenty minutes later, Emmy was waiting for Daveed at the baggage claim. He had texted five minutes ago to let her know that he had landed. Suddenly, she spotted him across the room and they sent each other a matching megawatt smile. She knew that Daveed wasn’t a fan of PDA, so they stuck to a simple hug and held hands while they waited for his duffle bag to come around on the conveyor belt. 

 

When they finally reached the coffee shop, Emmy felt herself getting nervous again. She tried to stay calm so that Daveed wouldn’t think anything was wrong. They walked into the cafe hand in hand, happy to be together after over a month apart. They made their way up to the front counter to place their order, Daveed shooting a questioning glance towards Emmy when she ordered decaf.

 

“I’m trying to cut back on caffeine,” she lied, hoping he was convinced. 

 

They paid the barista and took a seat at a little booth in the corner of the cafe. Emmy caught a glimpse of Rafael watching them from his car in the parking lot. He noticed her spot him and shot her a big smile and a thumbs up for encouragement. 

 

The happy couple spent the afternoon sipping their coffee and catching up. Daveed had lots of stories about the funny things that had happened on set and Emmy told him all about her weekly movie nights with Rafa and the new trick she had taught Moose. Daveed was just about to bring their dishes back up to the counter when she stopped him.

 

“Wait!” she cried out as he stood up. “You have to look at your cup first!”

 

“My cup?” he asked. “What’s so special about my cup?”

 

He looked at the bottom of the mug, and as he read the message, his eyes filled with tears.

 

_ Baby Diggs. Arriving December 2019 _

 

“Really? Are you…” he asked, reaching out to touch her barely noticeable baby bump. 

 

“I am. Just over two months. I went to the doctor’s yesterday to make sure.”

 

She handed him the ultrasound image of the baby. Their baby. They were both crying at this point and didn’t care if they were making a scene. Daveed wrapped her in a passionate hug, his hatred of PDA be damned. This was a turning point in their relationship and he wanted her to know that he was along for the ride. 


	3. A Little Help?

_ *Five Months Later* _

 

Emmy was curled up on the couch half-watching whatever movie was playing on the Hallmark channel. Daveed was busy in the kitchen making breakfast. Their dogs, Moose and Luna were curled up on the couch with Emmy. She reached over with one hand to ruffle Moose’s fur, the other resting on her growing baby bump. 

 

“Babe, do you want strawberries or blueberries in the crepes?” Daveed called from the kitchen.

 

“Um, can I have both?” Emmy called back.

 

“Sure. Do you mind giving me a hand?”

 

Emmy attempted to get off of the couch, but she still hadn’t adjusted to her new center of balance and found herself sinking back into the plush sofa.

 

“I need a little help in here,” she called out, crossing her arms in defeat.

 

Daveed came running in, an apron tied around his waist and a spoon in his hand. He couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw his girlfriend trapped by the sofa he had warned her was way too soft to be practical. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and snapped a few pictures while Emmy pouted. 

 

“You better not post that anywhere! I look fat and disgusting right now!” she groaned.

 

“Okay, I won’t post it anywhere,” he said, tossing his phone onto the couch as proof. “But you aren’t fat and you certainly aren’t disgusting,” he added as he helped her up and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Now c’mon. Breakfast is ready. You need to eat up. We have a big day ahead of us.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's super short, but I have another chapter halfway finished that should hopefully be uploaded tonight. In the mean time, any name suggestions?


	4. Baby Shower

*Later that afternoon*

 

“Emmy, babe? Are you almost ready to leave?” Daveed called from the kitchen.

 

“I would be if you would tell me where we were going so I’d know what to wear!” Emmy called back from their bedroom.

 

“Why don’t you wear that skirt you wore when we went to dinner with Rafa last week. I washed it the other day so it should be in your closet,” he called back while texting Javi to let him know they were running a few minutes late.

 

Twenty minutes later, they were finally in the car. Daveed still wouldn’t tell Emmy where they were going, no matter how much she begged him. She finally gave up and focused on feeling the baby kick while looking out the window to try to figure out where Daveed was taking her. 

 

Eventually, they pulled up outside of one of their favorite restaurants and Daveed helped Emmy out of the car. They slowly made their way inside, where they were directed to a private room upstairs. When they reached the room, they were greeted by their friends and family. The room was filled with pink decorations and there was a pile of gifts on a table in one corner. Emmy immediately burst into tears when she saw her mom and sisters walking towards her. Daveed’s parents were also there, as well as most of their Hamilton castmates, Rafael, and several of their childhood friends. Javier had taken the lead in organizing the party, partly because he just loved a good party, but also because he took credit for being the one who told Daveed to ask Emmy out in the first place and claimed that this baby wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for him. 

 

After Daveed and Emmy had made their rounds and said hello to all their guests, they took a seat at one of the tables. Vanessa and Jasmine, along with their husbands, had come to join them. Both women were also pregnant, although not as far along as Emmy. Vanessa was about 4 months pregnant with her third child and had just found out she was having her first girl, and Jasmine was 5 months pregnant with twins. Over the past few weeks, the three had formed a sort of club and were enjoying getting to share this special chapter of their life with one another. 

 

After a while, Daveed and Emmy were sitting together opening their gifts. They received a ton of cute baby outfits, lots of fun baby toys, a carseat, a stroller, a crib, and more diapers than they knew where to store. Emmy also got gift certificates for massages for after the baby was born (courtesy of Vanessa who knew how much she would need it) and a coupon book for babysitting (from Rafa who was really looking forward to watching his “niece” and who didn’t have money for a real gift at the moment). All in all, it was a wonderful baby shower and Emmy and Daveed were feeling extremely grateful to have such wonderful friends. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone who knows me should be impressed I made it to chapter 4 before adding in Javi and Vanessa. I just really like them, okay?


	5. Contractions

*One Week Later*

 

Emmy and Daveed were sitting on the couch watching Hercules. Well, Daveed was watching. Emmy had been having contractions on and off for almost a week now, and she was miserable. They had rushed in to get checked to make sure the baby was okay, since Emmy wasn’t due for another month, and her doctor had assured them that there was no need to go into the hospital unless the baby stopped moving, her water broke, or the contractions were coming regularly and frequently. Naturally, they were both nervous wrecks, but they were choosing to cope with it in different ways. Emmy was staying quiet and avoiding talking to anyone. She hadn’t even called her mom to let her know what was happening. All she wanted to do was sit on the same spot on the couch all day and pet the dogs. Daveed, on the other hand, was full of frantic energy. He cleaned the entire apartment from top to bottom one day, and then the next day, he re-washed all of the baby clothes and organized it by size, color, and season. Today’s project had been alphabetizing their extensive DVD collection first by title, but then he decided that it made much more sense to alphabetize by the name of the director, so he started over. Emmy had finally convinced him to sit down and watch a movie while they waited for their dinner to arrive, and it was the first time she saw him sit all day. She hated to get up and disturb the peaceful moment, but she really had to pee. As soon as she started to stand up, Daveed sprung to his feet.

 

“What’s wrong babe? D’ya need something? What can I do? I can…”

 

“I’m fine,” she said, dragging out her words, “I just really need to pee. Your daughter is sitting right on my bladder today.”

 

“Here, let me walk with you at least. You’ve been sitting for a while. Your legs might be a little wobbly.”

 

“D, I’m fine. I’m an adult. I can take care of myself. When’s the last time you slept?”

 

“Umm…”

 

“Umm?”

 

“Tuesday…” he whispered, sheepishly, running his hands through his curls.

 

“Daveed, its Thursday! This isn’t healthy! Go take a nap! I’ll save some food for you.”

 

“Yes ma’am,” Daveed saluted as he turned and sulked to the bedroom. 

 

Emmy made her way to the bathroom, and just as she reached the door, she felt a gush of water between her legs. 

 

“Fuck,” she muttered.

 

“DAVEED!”


	6. Meet Daniele

Six hours later, Emmy laid exhausted in the postnatal ward. The doctors had tried as hard as they could to slow her labor to give the baby, who was already measuring on the small side, some extra time to grow, but Emmy was already in active labor when they arrived. Four hours after her water had broken, Emmy had delivered her beautiful four pound, 2 ounce daughter, Daniele Rory Diggs. She was quickly whisked off to the NICU, and Daveed had followed to watch over her while Emmy stayed with her mother to recover from labor. He was texting regular updates as she was assessed and hooked up to various wires and tubes that he didn’t quite understand the purpose of. 

 

Daveed was sitting on a bench in the hallway, his face in his hands, hiding the tears streaming down his face when his mom quietly sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around him. She held him close, just like she had countless times when he was a kid, not caring that it was significantly harder and more uncomfortable now that he was so much taller than her. Right now, he needed his mother, and she was going to be there for him. 

 

“It’s my fault…” he muttered into her shirt between sobs.

“What do you mean?” she asked, although she had a feeling she knew what he was thinking.

 

“It’s my fault she’s in there right now. I was too busy working the whole pregnancy and it stressed Em out and now the baby’s got all those awful tubes sticking out of its little body!”

 

“Daveed, honey, breathe. None of this is your fault. Sometimes these things just happen. Your cousin was a preemie. And look at him now! He’s 6’2”!”

 

“Yeah, but…”

 

“No buts. You guys knew the baby was measuring small for a while now. Maybe she just knew she needed to be here to get the help she needed to grow. Does she have a name yet?”

 

“Daniele. Daniele Rory Diggs,” he said with a slight smile.

 

“Aww. She’s named after her Daddy?” she asked?

 

“She sure is. Do you want to see her? We can’t go in yet, but we can see her through the window.”

 

“Are you really asking if I want to see my first grandchild? Of course I do!” she said, ruffling his curls.

 

They made their way back down the hall, stopping outside Daniele’s room. Daveed gestured to the window and presented his tiny daughter to his mother. It was difficult to see her through both the window and the incubator, but they could sort of make out the tiny baby covered in wires and tubes. Of course, both of them thought she was the most beautiful baby they had ever seen despite all of this. 

 

Just then, Emmy and her mother made their way down the hallway towards the room, Emmy sitting in a wheelchair. They made their way over to the window to admire the newest member of their little family. Emmy stood up to look through the window and Daveed wrapped her in a hug, completely in awe by what he had witnessed her do just hours earlier. 

 

A nurse came over and asked Emmy and Daveed if they were ready to come in and hold Daniele for the first time. They both nodded eagerly and said goodbye to their mothers and promised to send pictures before making their way into the small room. Emmy was the first to hold their daughter and couldn’t believe how natural it felt to have this tiny baby lying on her chest. Even though she had only been alive for a few hours, it seemed impossible to imagine her life before her daughter was born. She reluctantly gave her to Daveed to hold, and cried at the sight of him with the tiny infant on his large chest. The difference in size was striking and almost comical. After a while, the nurse told them that she needed to go back into the incubator, and it was so hard to put her back. Another nurse came in to help Emmy learn how to pump breastmilk to give Daniele through her feeding tube while another explained all of the different monitors and wires to Daveed. They explained that Daniele would probably be in the NICU for about a month while she grew and learned to breathe and eat on her own, but that she was fairly healthy and wouldn’t need to stay much longer than that. They also explained that Daveed and Emmy would be able to visit every day as long as they were healthy and told them about resources available if they needed time out of work or housing closer to the hospital. Luckily, neither of them had taken any jobs during the last few weeks of Emmy’s pregnancy just in case, and the hospital was only 15 minutes from their house. Daveed had texted Rafa earlier to let him know Emmy had the baby and he offered to take the dogs for as long as they needed, and Daveed agreed that that was in everyone’s best interest. He was feeling much calmer now that he had held Daniele and seen that she was really okay. Maybe things really would be okay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My baby fever is so bad right now, lol.


	7. Back to Work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance. This chapter is basically a giant game of "Where Are They Now?" with a sprinkling of Daveed being a cute dad

*4 Years Later*

 

The past few years seemed to go by in a blur. Suddenly, Daniele was four and would be starting preschool in the fall. Daveed and Emmy had been hesitant to start sending her to school and debated waiting another year, but ultimately settled on sending her for just the mornings. She would be in the same class as Jasmine and Anthony’s twins, Michael and Callie. Lin and Vanessa had sent the boys to the same school, and were planning to send their daughter, Anabella, in the spring. 

 

For the first few years of Daniele’s life, Emmy had taken some time off from work, doing a reading here and there but mostly dedicating her time to being a mother. Their days revolved around trips to the park with Moose, playdates with the twins, and weekly trips to the local library where Dani always took out about 50 books. Daveed would read her four or five books every night that he was home. He had gotten quite good at reading stories to her, coming up with different voices for each character. On a few occassions, he even sang the books to her, making up the melody as he went along. 

 

Now that Daniele was getting older, Emmy had decided it was time for her to start auditioning again. She was shocked when she was offered the part of Jenna in Waitress after only 3 auditions. She knew it wouldn’t be easy balancing a Broadway schedule with taking care of a 4 year old, but Daveed promised they would make it work because this was one of her dream roles. He pointed out that he would be able to get Dani off to school in the morning so that Emmy could sleep, and then she would be able to spend the afternoon with her before leaving for the theater. By the end of their chat, Emmy was feeling confident about her decision to accept the role. She would be starting rehearsals in mid-September, so she would be able to be there for Daniele’s first day of school, and her first show would be at the end of October. 

 

Daveed knew that if he was going to be in charge of getting Daniele to school every morning, he was going to need to learn how to style her hair the way she liked it. Emmy did cute braids and twists for her, and he knew it wouldn’t go over well if he told her he didn’t know how. He was explaining this dilemma to Rafa during their weekly lunch date when Rafa offered the perfect solution.

 

“Come with me to the ‘Hairstyling for Dads’ class I’m taking next week. I need to learn how to do something with this one’s hair because my neighbors are getting sick of me bringing her over there to get her hair braided,” he chuckled, gesturing to his one year old daughter, Amari, who was fast asleep in her stroller. 

 

Shortly after Daniele was born, Rafa had started dating a woman he met at the gym. Her name was Kayla and he fell hard for her. He proposed as soon as he found out she was pregnant and was excitedly planning the wedding. When Amari was 2 weeks old, Kayla left in the middle of the night, leaving a note in the kitchen saying she wanted nothing to do with either of them and that she was leaving the country. Rafa had been heartbroken, but now his entire world revolves around his daughter and he’s determined to give her the best life possible. He had recently started dating again, but it wasn’t anything serious. He wasn’t sure if he ever wanted anything serious again. His daughter came first now and anyone who wanted to be in his life would have to accept that. 

 

Daveed agreed to check out the class with him, and texted Emmy to make sure it was okay for him to bring Dani. She thought it was adorable that he was putting so much effort into making this transition easier for Daniele. She also made him promise that Rafa would come over for dinner with Amari. Emmy had bad baby fever again, but for now she was getting her fill with watching her friends’ kids since it wasn’t a good time for them to have another. Rafa agreed to come by that night as long as Emmy would help him trim Amari’s nails. Raising these kids truly was a team effort. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live for Single Dad Rafa content


	8. A Family Dinner

A few hours later, Rafa was knocking on the door of Daveed and Emmy’s apartment, Amari squirming on his hip trying to get down and a giant diaper bag slung over his shoulder. Suddenly the door opened and he was greeted by an exhausted Daveed. 

 

“UNCLE RAFA!” Daniele screamed as she ran towards the door, ready to fling herself at Rafa. 

 

Daveed reached down and scooped up the tiny girl, stopping her from colliding with his best friend, who was still struggling to keep his own daughter in his arms. Hearing the commotion at the door, Emmy made her way over to greet their dinner guests and scooped Amari out of Rafa’s arms, tickling the toddler to make her giggle. 

 

Rafa set down the diaper bag and collapsed onto the sofa in the living room, Daniele scooting as close to him as she possibly could. He couldn’t help but smile watching Emmy playing with his daughter. He sometimes felt bad that Amari didn’t have a mother in her life, but then he’d remember the large chosen family they had made, and he wouldn’t trade a thing.

 

A few hours later, both of the girls were playing with blocks on the floor with Daveed while Emmy was finishing dinner. Rafael had fallen asleep on the couch, exhausted from being up with a teething baby the night before. Daveed snapped a few pictures of his sleeping friend to save in case he ever needed to embarrass him on social media. Just as he was about to sit back down with the kids, Emmy called them for dinner, which woke Rafa with a start, making the entire group crack up.

 

After dinner, Daveed put on a Disney movie for the girls while he and Emmy did the dishes. Rafa had fallen asleep on the couch again, with the girls each snuggled into one of his sides. Emmy caught a glimpse of them out of the corner of her eye while she was cleaning and was struck with an idea.

 

“Hey babe?” she called grabbing onto Daveed’s arm.

 

“What’s up?” he responded.

 

“I think Rafa needs some time off. Poor guys exhausted,” she replied, turning Daveed’s attention to the sleeping man on their couch.

 

“You’re right. Should we offer to keep Amari tonight so he can sleep?” Daveed asked.

 

“Yeah. I was thinking maybe we could keep her for a few days so he can catch up on sleep and maybe go on a date with that girl he keeps mentioning,” Emmy giggled, watching Daveed’s eyes go wide at the idea of taking care of a teething toddler for a few days, “I mean, it would help us see if we’re ready for another.”

 

Daveed blushed and agreed. He left the kitchen to go wake up Rafa and send him home. He left the diaper bag that had everything they should need to get through the night and promised to stop by in the morning with anything else they would need. 

 

Later that night, when Emmy got back into the living room from getting Dani back to sleep after a nightmare, she found Daveed fast asleep in the rocker with Amari sleeping on his chest. She couldn’t help but smile as she covered them with a blanket and snapped a picture to send to Rafa. She found herself resting her hand on her non-existent baby bump dreaming about their future as she fell asleep that night. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference, here are pictures of how I picture the kids
> 
> Amari:https://data.whicdn.com/images/162260995/superthumb.jpg?t=1423494767
> 
> Daniele: http://mommynoire.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/152.jpg


	9. Playground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anthony and Daveed take the three kids to the playground together. What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Bullying, Injury, Hospital, Surgery

While Emmy and Jasmine were at work together, both currently working on a new musical, Daveed and Anthony decided to band together to take care of the three kids. Daniele, Callie, and Michael were five now and were all in the same kindergarten class. The two couples tried to get the kids together at least once a week, and they regularly watched each other’s kids so that they could still have date nights and some child-free time. 

 

On this particular Saturday, Daveed and Anthony decided to take the kids to the local park where they could run around and get some energy out. The park also had a playground where they would be able to play on the jungle gym and swings for a while before heading home for dinner. 

 

Daveed and Daniele arrived at Anthony and Jasmine’s apartment around two, after a long and messy lunch of mac and cheese and fruit snacks, the only things she would eat when Emmy wasn’t home. Anthony opened the door to reveal Michael running around the apartment in just his underwear while Callie was playing quietly in the corner with her dollhouse. It never ceased to amuse Daveed how different the twins were. He sent Daniele over to play with Callie and then made his way over to Michael and tried to convince him to put on some clothes. After about fifteen minutes, Michael was finally dressed and the group made their way down the street to the park.

 

As soon as they arrived, all three kids joined a game of tag with a few other kids who were already playing. Daveed and Anthony took a seat on a nearby bench where they could chat while still keeping an eye on the kids to make sure no one got hurt. After about twenty minutes of tag, Daniele and Callie came over to ask if they could go over to the playground now. They called for Michael and made their way over, the girls heading straight for the swings while Michael ran for the sandbox when he saw there was a dump truck that no one was playing with yet. 

 

After a little while, Daniele and Callie decided to head over to the jungle gym to practice their gymnastics. Their were some older kids hanging out there too, but they stayed on the lower bars like Anthony had told them to so they weren’t worried. Daniele was showing Callie the new flip she had learned in class when one of the bigger kids came over to them.

 

“Are you babies done yet?” she asked, her hands on her hips, glaring at Dani and Callie. “Why don’t you go play with the baby toys over there?” she pointed at the baby swings across the park.

“M-my Papí says I can p-play here if I w-want!” Callie retorted, her small voice wavering as the older girl stared her down.

“Y-yeah! D-daddy said we could p-play f-flips!” Dani added, moving to stand next to her friend.

“Well, only big kids can play on the bars. Prove that you’re big kids and we’ll let you stay,” another girl added.

“Fine!” Daniele shouted, climbing up the ladder to the higher bars.

“Dani! Papí told us not to go up there!” Callie called after her, looking back towards Anthony and Daveed who were busy talking and didn’t notice the altercation their daughters were in.

“It’s fine, C! We’ve been up here before! C’mon!” Danielle called from the top of the ladder.

 

Callie hesitantly made her way towards the ladder and began climbing up after giving one more glance towards her father. When she reached the top, she couldn’t help but feel proud of herself for making it up so high. She could see the whole playground from up here. Michael was still in the sandbox, currently dumping sand down another kid’s shirt. She could see Anthony and Daveed, still on the bench, unaware that their daughters had climbed up higher than they were supposed to. But before she could get too comfortable up there, the older girls were back.

 

“Now you gotta do a flip up here,” the older girl said, demonstrating by flipping herself backwards so she was hanging by her knees, “Your turn,” she said as she flipped back up.

 

Daniele hesitantly adjusted herself on the bar and then helped Callie adjust herself. They squeezed hands and then let go as they flipped back. Daniele felt her legs slip off of the bar, and the next thing she knew, she was on the ground, searing pain in her left arm. 

 

“Dani!” Callie called as soon as she realized what had happened, “Hold on! I’ll be right there to help you!” she yelled to her as a tear slipped down her cheek.

“Here, I’ll show you the fastest way to get there,” the older girl said before pushing Callie off the bar, laughing as she fell to the ground next to Daniele and then running off with the rest of the older kids before they could get caught.

 

Callie hit the wood chips below with a thud. The pain was instant and all she could do was scream. Anthony heard her and he and Daveed went running, shocked to see both of their daughters lying on the ground below the jungle gym. Daveed could tell just by looking that Daniele had broken her left arm, the swelling and bruising already setting in. Callie was in even worse shape. The broken bone in her leg had pierced her skin and she was bleeding. Anthony was using his sweatshirt to stop the bleeding while calling an ambulance. He told Daveed to call the theater and have Emmy and Jasmine meet them at the ER. Michael had noticed the chaos and the crowd that had formed and made his way over. Daveed kept him turned around while simultaneously cradling Daniele so that he wouldn’t see his sister’s injury. After he reached the theater and confirmed that the girls would meet them at the ER, Anthony had him call Stephanie to pick up Michael so he wouldn’t have to be at the hospital with them. He explained to his son that he was going to have a special sleepover with Auntie Steph and that he’d get to watch movies and pick whatever kind of take out he wanted for dinner. 

 

After what felt like an eternity but in reality was probably only a few minutes, the ambulances arrived to take the girls to the hospital. The EMTs quickly splinted Daniele’s arm to keep it stable on the trip. They took a bit longer with Callie because they had to bandage her wound before they could splint her leg. When they finally arrived at the hospital, they put the girls in a shared room because they had been crying for each other the whole trip. They were both given pain medication so they were super sleepy and a little loopy when Jasmine and Emmy arrived. Both women were in a frantic state, clearly having gotten quickly changed out of costume and jumping into an Uber as soon as they got the call. 

 

The girls were both taken back for x-rays, Jasmine having to go with Callie who was convinced that she was being taken away from her parents forever. Fortunately, Daniele’s arm was a clean break that would heal with just a cast. She chose purple, to match her new sneakers, and was excited to have all her friends draw on it at school on Monday. Callie, unfortunately, was going to need surgery to realign her bones and place several screws. Anthony and Jasmine were nervous, as was to be expected, but they were grateful to be at a pediatric hospital with a world renowned orthopedic team who they felt would do everything they could to help their daughter heal as quickly as possible. 

 

Daniele was allowed to go home after her cast was put on, so she said goodbye to Callie and wished her good luck with her surgery. Emmy promised that they would come back to visit the next day once Callie was recovering and that seemed to calm the girls down a bit. The Diggs family made their way home, leaving Callie and her parents to prepare for the long night ahead of them. Despite the heavy pain medications, she was still in a significant amount of pain, which the doctor said was to be expected with her injury. Her surgery had been booked for 7am the following morning, and she would be unable to eat all night, so they tried to come up with some different ways to distract her both from hunger and pain all night. Luckily, the hospital didn’t have a restriction on visiting hours, so Cynthia and Mario came over around 9 with a big bag of supplies they had picked up from the apartment: pillows, blankets, dolls, art supplies, books, stuffed animals, movies, the iPad, and Anthony’s laptop. They also grabbed changes of clothes for all three of them, toiletries, and phone chargers. Stephanie had also stopped by the apartment and grabbed anything she would need to take care of Michael for the few days they were expecting to be in the hospital with Callie and a few days after so she could recover at home in peace. 

 

Around 2am, Callie was awake and crying from pain, Jasmine doing her best to hold her without hurting her leg while they waited to hear back from the doctor about giving her more pain meds. Jasmine put Lion King on for her, one of her favorite Disney movies, and was singing along to some of the songs, quietly kissing her head, trying to calm her, to no avail. Callie was just whimpering at this point, too tired to fully cry. Anthony excused himself from the room and Jasmine assumed he was going to go beg the nurse to page the doctor again. 

 

Twenty minutes later, the nurse came in with more pain meds for Callie. Jasmine thanked her and the woman offered her a small supportive smile in return. Jasmine was so grateful that Callie had a nurse who was so attentive to her needs and was helping to make sure she was as comfortable as possible until she had her surgery. With the additional medication, Callie quickly fell asleep. Jasmine noticed that Anthony still hadn’t returned, so she texted him to see if he was okay. When she didn’t get a reply, she decided to go look for him, hoping Callie would stay asleep for a little while.

 

She found him crying on a bench in the family waiting area. She quietly slipped next to him and wrapped him in a hug, rubbing steady circles on his back to help steady his breathing.

“Bubba, match my breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Good job. Keep going,” she coached him, feeling his breathing begin to regulate, the tension being released from his body.

“My fault,” he muttered into her shoulder, his voice wavering from tears.

“What do you mean, Bubba?” she asked, holding him so she could see his face.

“It’s my fault she’s hurt. I shoulda watched her better,” he said, turning away, unable to look her in the eyes.

“Bubba, look at me,” she said, turning his face so she was looking at him, “I know how hard it is to watch both of them at once. Especially somewhere like the playground. She’s gonna be okay. Let’s go back in there with her before she wakes up again looking for us.”

 

The next morning, Callie was brought down for pre-op around 5:30. By 7, she was pretty doped up from the medicine the anesthesiologist had given her, but she was excited that when she woke up from her “nap” her leg would be fixed and she would have a purple cast to match Dani. When she was wheeled back to the OR, Anthony and Jasmine were led to a waiting room, where both of their mothers were waiting already, along with Cynthia and Mario. They all waited together, taking turns comforting Anthony and Jasmine until a nurse came out to tell them that Callie was out of surgery and should be waking up shortly. She explained that one parent could come sit with her now and that the other could join once she was fully awake. Jasmine followed the nurse back and took a seat next to her sleeping daughter, admiring how peaceful she looked for the first time since they had arrived at the hospital. 

 

A few hours later, Callie was back up in her hospital room surrounded by her family. Everyone had come upstairs to see her once she was moved back up and they all brought gifts. Jasmine’s mom had gotten her a new Barbie, Anthony’s mom got her a stuffed pig, her current favorite animal. Mario and Cynthia had stopped at the American Girl store and gotten a set of crutches and a cast so her doll could match her. Stephanie brought her a box of her favorite cookies, and Michael had drawn her a picture. She was still a bit drowsy from the anesthesia and sore from surgery, but Callie was grateful to be spending a day surrounded by her family who cared about her so much. 

**Author's Note:**

> I live for Emmy and Rafa friendship content


End file.
